Great strides with China partnership

In June 2013 we saw some significant developments in our partnership with the High School Affiliated to the University of Architecture and Technology in Xi’an, China. Firstly, we bade a very fond farewell to Mr Zhang Yi, or Roy as we all affectionately know him, our Chinese Language Assistant from our partner school. He has worked at Boteler for the last 10 months, teaching Mandarin Chinese to mainly our KS3 pupils. In addition, he has collaborated with the Geography, Design Technology and RE departments to raise our pupils’ awareness and understanding of Chinese culture. Finally, he assisted Mr Wood in coaching our highly successful Table Tennis teams.

His departure preceded a visit last week by Mr Wyss to our partner school in Xi’an. He spent a week meeting with the school’s Senior Leadership Team and teachers, teaching several English lessons and even learning Chinese calligraphy and Tai Chi! The main purpose of the visit was to plan for the next steps of our partnership that was first established by Mr Sharples in 2008. This will hopefully involve mutual visits by groups of pupils from both schools in the next 18 months.

On his return Mr Wyss enthused, ‘I must thank our Xi’an partner school for a truly unique and unforgettable experience. Their generosity is matched by the deep understanding of each others’ schools and cultures that we continue to forge. I am excited by the prospect of some of Sir Thomas Boteler’s pupils visiting China in 2014. Similarly we will be delighted to welcome our friends from Xi’an in the near future.’